1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to spectacle kits. In one aspect, this invention relates to spectacle kits for use with protective masks.
2. Background
Firemen, safety and rescue personnel, and industrial professionals often require the use of protective masks or Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). The protective masks are needed to enter hazardous environments, e.g., such as a chemical filled area with caustic gases, or a burning structure. Protective masks also are needed to enter potentially hazardous environments as a safety precaution.
Some sports require the use of protective masks to enter hostile environments. For example, a protective mask is needed in underwater diving.
A person requiring the use of corrective optical lenses for improving visual acuity must be able to use corrective optical lenses while using the protective mask. The use of contact lenses while using the protective mask is impractical because most contact lenses today are soft contact lenses which are manufactured using a material incorporating water in an amount of 38% by weight or more of the water. The soft contact lenses become contaminated by smoke and/or chemicals, thereby making the lenses uncomfortable to wear and/or structurally damaged.
A spectacle kit includes optical lens eye-wear structures supported on the nose or face, commonly called glasses. A spectacle kit today typically uses thermal plastic lenses, e.g., CR39 monomer polycarbonate lenses, to provide the corrective optical lenses.
A spectacle kit is needed for those who must wear protective masks and who also require corrective optical lenses.
One method used in the past, including as used by the military, includes a pair of lens frames connected by a hinged nosepiece to allow the system to be held in a folded mask.
A second method used in the past has had the support structure attach to a back block rigidly mounted inside a face mask. The lenses are removable from the system by pulling the whole unit out of the mask. A slidably releaseable dove-tail connection positions the frame front properly in an up and down adjustment.